A sumptuously looking 3D driving game set in the fast paced world of drift racing that features in the new film out this summer.

2F2F 3D is, as you may well have guessed, the 3D version of the latest game in the popular mobile series. We have already reviewed the 2D version, see what we thought of the game here.

The 3D version has an instant impact when you see the graphics as they are pretty stunning. The backgrounds are really well detailed and the cars themselves look great. The game is reminiscent of Raging Thunder graphically and the mods and visual aspects of the cars and the game is first rate. The speed is also well handled and you get a real sense of racing when trying to control the car. The big thing about this game is the drifting and thankfully the game has the two standard views, either in car or external to the car. You can always tell if someone plays a lot of driving games as the view of choice for the specialists will always be in car. On this view you really feel the drift of the car when you are skidding around corners and trying not to crash into things and I think the developers can pat themselves on the back for the way that the drift has been translated onto the mobile format. The course for qualifying is really reminiscent of Initial D and I felt as if I was Takumi racing around the corners of one of the mountains in Japan.

The sound, I'm sorry to say, is pretty appalling. You get a few basic tones when you load the game and also some during the race. There is vibration when you crash which is great but combining this with something that sounds like the keypad from the old Commodore 64 days really lets the game down. There should have been engine noises, a decent background tune and also the sound of screeching tyres.

Controls are easy to pick up, press the 2 or up button to get the car to accelerate and from then on it will autoaccelerate. The left and right or 4 and 6 buttons will turn the car and you will need to quickly press both of these in succession to maintain the skids and drifts you need to gain money and respect. The main button or 5 will activate your nitros but it's a little tricky as you have to hold the button down so turning at the same time is quite a challenge.

The playability of the game is excellent. There are 4 stages to play with the same requirements in each. Just like the 2D game you get The Call where you have to win the race to continue, then there's the Show Off level where you have to complete the stage in the time but with stylish drifts to earn money and respect. It's quite tricky to get the hang of drifting initially in the 3D version compared to the 2D version so unlike the 2D version, when you hit something you don't lose any respect points but obviously you don't gain any either. With the course being fairly short it means that you have to master drifting for large periods of time to progress to the next stage. The third and final stage is the Twin Battle where you face off against the area master. You have to beat them and also gain more respect which is easier said than done. The course is quite short and is basically one big square to race around so no twisting and turning corners but what this does mean is that it's essential to drift around them as much as possible. One drawback is that as you progress the courses don't change (except in the Twin Battle where you race the opposite way later on in the game) which is a bit of a shame. But you can upgrade your car and even better than that, you can customise the colours and designs. This is a really cool feature and for the bonnet and side designs you get a large white pixel area that you can black out to create your own design for the car. I had my name on the sides of the car (although it's mirrored on one side which is a problem) and a big X on the bonnet. This would have been better on the roof but you can't have everything!

The lastability is great as there are 4 stages in Story Mode to play through. Granted, you don't get any new courses but you can unlock modes, cars and tracks outside of Story Mode and also customise your car to use in these. The difficulty curve is well pitched and the game does get a lot harder through the levels. I found myself playing the Show Off track on each level quite a lot to raise the cash needed to upgrade the car. In addition the other mode called Solo Runs allows you to race with specific requirements to set high scores, eg race a perfect lap or see how many drift combos you can do. This combined with the quick race mode means the game has a lot of replay value. The game can be suspended and resumed and your progress in Story Mode is saved.

A slick looking racing game that manages to capture the essence of drift racing perfectly! Let's hope the film is just as good.